Top for return on early-career earnings

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published the results of a study this week (Graduate versus non-graduate outcomes, 27 November) that estimates the impact of attending Higher Education (HE) on individuals’ early-career earnings at the age of 29 after accounting for their pre-university characteristics.

The study shows that, among Computer Science degrees across England, male graduates from Royal Holloway have the highest return at 99.71%. That is, our male graduates can expect to earn 99.71% more than they would have earned if they didn’t go to university. Unfortunately, there was not enough data for making a meaningful estimate for women students. The full table of results is available here.

This report confirms the excellent employability prospects for our students in Computer Science, who graduate with specialist knowledge and a skillset that are in high demand. Computer Science at Royal Holloway is currently ranked fourth in the UK for graduate prospects in the Times Good University Guide 2019 and, according to the recent Destination of Leavers in Higher Education 2018, 97% of our graduates are employed in graduate level jobs within six months of graduating.

The IFS study uses the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) administrative dataset andtracks English students through school, college, university and into the labour market. It compares individuals who went to HE to those with similar background characteristics who did not. The estimation includes individuals who took their GCSEs between 2002 and 2007.